Far More Lethal Than a Musket

Trey Smith

Wade Michael Page, the Wisconsin gunman who opened fire inside a Sikh Temple during Sunday services this weekend, joins a string of men in recent US history -- guided by rage, insanity, or some combination of both -- who acted alone with murderous results. But Page had more in common with those men than just the urge and capacity to execute such a hideous act: he had the same perfectly designed weapon they had, too.

Like Seung-hui Cho, the Virginia Tech University student who killed 32 people and then himself in 2007, Jared Loughner who killed six people in Arizona in 2011, and James Holmes who murdered twelve in a Colorado movie theater last month, Wade Michael Page on Sunday carried out his assault with a highly concealable, high capacity semiautomatic handgun.

According to a Reuters report and based on new details emerging from the weekend tragedy, Page's gun, a Springfield 9mm, was purchased legally at a Wisconsin gun shop and was likely chosen, experts say, for being "adaptable to using high-capacity magazines."

Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, a nonprofit group that advocates to reduce gun violence, told Reuters these kinds of guns -- especially when using the high-capacity clips available for them -- allow the shooters to fire the maximum number of bullets in a short period of time.

"There is no valid reason for civilians to have assault rifles, semiautomatic handguns and high-capacity magazines," he said. "We have to start ratcheting down the firepower in civilian hands in the United States." (emphasis mine)
~ High-Capacity Semiautomatic Handguns: Weapon of Choice for US Mass Shooters by Common Dreams Staff ~

I know I've been harping on this point for nearly one month now, but I think it is of critical importance. As Sugarmann states, I can think of no valid reason for civilians to own these types of weapons. You don't need them for hunting...unless your prey is masses of people. You can protect your home and property just as easily with a shotgun or a .22 rifle. And if you think having an assault rifle will protect you from a government run amok, you need to check yourself into a mental health center.

We don't allow citizens to own mortars, hand grenades, flamethrowers, tanks and nuclear weapons. Why? Because civilians who own such weapons easily could slaughter scores of people. Assault weapons carry the same risks. So, why are they legal?